Striping device



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A. L. WELLS Feb. 14, 1956 United States Patent STRIPING DEVICE Arthur L.Wells, Des Plaines, Ill.

Original application July 7, 1948, Serial No. 37,446. Divided alud thisapplication February 27, 1951, Serial No. 212,94

6 Claims. (Cl. 15-127) In recent years it has become increasinglypopular to v manufacture wall board wherein squares are painted thereonand then applied to the walls of kitchens and bathrooms to make thewalls appear like tile. Wall board, when used in this manner, isconsiderably less expensive than the actual tile; and for this reason,it has become quite popular. Still more recently, various other types ofdesigns of wall board having stripes painted thereon have come into usewherein the stripes may be all vertical or all horizontal. e

Providing this wall board with painted stripes has been an expensiveconsideration in the manufacture thereof; and it is, therefore, one ofthe principal objects of the present invention to provide an apparatusfor applying painted stripes to wall board for the purposes aboveoutlined. e

Another object of the invention is to provide a new and improved form ofpaint dispensing device for applying the paint and striping wall boardor otherv similar types of material.

Other objects of the invention will appear more fully upon a reading ofthe following description taken in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings wherein:

Fig. l is an elevational view of a striping device em-` bodying thefeatures of the present invention; and

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional View through the device illustrated inFig. l.

Briey described, the inventionembodies a novel typeY of striping devicewhich is yadapted to dispense'paint onto wall board or the like as theboard is moved under the device which itself remains stationary. Inmanufacturing wall board for the purpose of simulating tile, it iscustomary to` provide grooves in one surface of the board, which groovesare painted one color to'set olf the simulated tile squares, and thesquares themselves are painted a different color. The device of kthisinvention is to apply the stripes for setting olf the squares and tosupply paint to the elongated grooves already present in the board. Eachseparate device is automatic in its operation so that it will start andstop the flow of the paint at the proper time.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings and more specifically toFigs. l and 2, the device per se comprises a main body portion 1 whichhas a pair of side members 2 extending forwardly from each side thereof.These side members are preferably formed of thin sheet metal and may besecured to the body 1 by means such as screws or rivets 3.

T he paint dispensing portion of the device is positioned at the forwardend thereof and is generally indicated by the number 4. The paintdispensing portion includes a body 5 positioned between the side members2 and mounted for pivotal movement on a pin or rod 6 extending throughthe body 5 with a substantial clearance or loose lit as shown in thedrawing. The body is thus permit- "ice ted a limited pivotal movement ina substantially vertical plane and a slight lateral movement due to theloose tit of the pin 6.

f The forward end of the body 5 is directed downwardly at anangle and isprovided with an elongated guide rod 7. One end of this guide rod 7 issecured to the forward end of the body 5, and the other end is curved soas to fit snugly in a groove provided in the surface of a piece of wallboard. A spreader arm 8 extends forwardly from the front end of the body5 and has its forward end bent downwardly and rounded so that it willspread the paint evenly within the groove, the paint having previouslybeen supplied thereto by means of the dispensing tube 9. The tube 9 isremovably mounted at the forward end of the body 5 between the guide rod7 and the spreader arm 8 thereby insuring that the device will be guidedproperly in the groove and that the paint supplied through the tube 9will be spread evenly within the groove by the spreader arm 8.

The main body 1 has a substantially vertically disposed opening 10therethrough. A smaller opening or passageway 11 communicates at one endwith the opening 10 and is inclined downwardly and forwardly toward theforward end of the body 1; A tubular member .12

. threadedly engages an enlarged portion `of the passageway 11 at theforward end thereof so that the opening 13 ytherethrough communicatesdirectly with the passageway 11. A ilexible tube 14 is secured Vat oneend thereof tothe tube 12 and communicates with the passage 13 therein,and its other end is fastened to another tubular member 15 in thepivotally mounted body 5. The tube 15 has a passage -therethroughcommunicating with a short passage 16 in the body 5 which in turncommunicates with the longer passage 17 extending forwardly anddownwardly through the body 5. The passage 17 communicates with thedispensing tube 9 so that paint within the opening 10 and under pressurewill be forced through the passage 11, flexible Itube 14, passage 17,and outwardly through the end of the dispensing tube 9.

A connecting member 18 threadedly engages the bottom of the opening 10and has a valve seat 19 formed therein. A needle valve 20 is providedwhich has the bottom end thereof tapered to t agains-t the valve seat 19to prevent the ilow of paint therethrough. The paint may be supplied inany suitable manner through a tube 22 in communication with theconnection 18 from a suitable source of supply not shown.

The needle valve 20 is normally in its lower position as shown in Fig. 2bearing against the valve seat 19 so as to prevent the ow of painttherethrough.

The upper end of the opening or passage 10 is closed by means of thesealing gland 23, but the valve 20 extends through the gland 23 andupwardly through an opening 24 in an arm 25. That portion of the needlevalve 20 above the gland 23 may be threaded to receive the adjustingnuts 26. A collar 27 is positioned between the adjusting nuts 26 and theupper surface of the arm 25 to form a bearing surface so that the amountof movement or the distance ythrough which the valve V2t) is permittedto move with respect to the valve seat 19 may be adjusted to suitdifferent types of paints and to control the ow of paint by adjustingthe nuts 26.

The arm 25 is formed so as to have a substantially flat and horizontallypositioned rear portion 28 and a downwardly curved front portion 29. Therear eind ofl arm 25 has a bracket 30 secured thereto having downwardlyextending arms 31 at each end thereof adapted to receive a pivot pin 32which is supported by a pivot block 33 mounted on the upper surface ofthe'main body 1. At this point, it ,will be clear that the arm 25 willhave a pivotal movement about the pin 32 in a vertical plane so thatwhen the arm 25 is in a lowered position, the

valve 20 will be closed; but when the arm is elevated above its pivotalpoint, it will carry the collar 27 upwardly with it and the valve stemconnectedr thereto so as to open the valve and permit the flow of paint.

The arm 25 is maintained in a normally lowered position by means of acoil compression spring 34 surrounding a vertically disposed rod 35. Thelower end of the rod 35 is connected to a stop member 36 and passesthrough an opening 37 through the arm 25. A collar 38 surrounds the rod35 and provides a bearing surface between the lower end of the spring 34and the upper surface of arm 25. The upper end of the rod 35 is threadedto receive an adjusting nut 39 whereby the compression of'spring 34 canbe adjusted to determine the amount of pressure necessary to elevate thearm 25 and thereby open the valve 20.

The forward end of the arm 25 has another rod 4U secured thereto, thelower end of rod 40 being threaded as at 41 for engagement with asuitable opening through the forward end of arm 25. The upper end of rod40 has an enlargement or head 42 thereon, and a coil compression spring43 surrounds the rod bearing upwardly at one end against the head 42 anddownwardly at its other end against the arm 25. The lower endV of rod 40is adjusted to bear against the upper surface of the body whereby anupward pivotal movement of this body will cause a similar upwardmovement of the arm 25 to thereby open the valve and permit the flow ofpaint. The threaded engagement of the rod 40 with the arm 25 will permita certain amount of adjustment to be made, and the spring 43 acts tomaintain the rod 40 in any position to which it has been adjusted.

It is contemplated that a plurality of these devices may be mounted inspaced relation along the length of a supporting rod so that a groovedwall board may be moved under these batteries of paint dispensers tothereby paint a plurality of stripes simultaneously in one direc,- tionalong the length or width of such wall board. The rear end of the mainbody 1 may have a semicircular recess therein so that a recessed cap 44may be secured thereto in order to fasten or mount the device on a rod45.

Some or all of these devices may be elevated and held out of contactwith a board passing thereunder if so desired. They may also be easilyadjusted to adequately take care of boards having different thicknesses.In any event, the grooved board is caused to move in a longitudinal pathbeneath a plurality of the dispensing devices all of which are soadjusted that when the board first starts its movement, the forward edgethereof will come against the guide members 7 of each device and forcethe dispensing portion of the device, including the body 5, in an upwarddirection. When this part of the device is thus moved upwardly, it willcontact the lower' end of rod 40 and carry it upwardly, which in turnwill also elevate the arm 25 against the force of the spring 34. Thisupward movement of arm 25 will also carry with it the needle valve thuslifting it oft" of its seat 19 to thereby permit the flow of paintthrough the various passages above described. The paint will thus bedispensed through the outer end of the dispensing tube 9 and will bedeposited in the groove in the board. The lower curved end. of the guiderod 7 will ride in the groove in the board, and the spreader arm 8 willalso ride in the groove to spread the paint along the sides of thegroove which has just been placed there by the dispensing tube 9. Afterthe board has completed its passage through the apparatus and has beenstriped in one direction and after the rear end thereof has passedbeyond the dispensing part of the device, there will be no furthersupport for this part of the device; and it will, therefore, dropdownwardly. When this occurs, the spring 34 will force the armdownwardly also and permit the valve to be closed thereupon preventingany further How of paint.

The preferred manner in which the. previously described striping devicemay be used is described and claimed in my copending application, SerialNo. 37,446 filed July 7, 1948, now matured into United States LettersPatent No. 2,548,456, of which the present application is a division.

The invention is hereby claimed as follows:

l. A striping device of the class described comprising relativelymovable body members,yeach said body member having tluid passagestherethrough, said body members being resiliently mounted one withrespect to the other for both vertical and lateral movement meansconnecting the passages of one body member with the passages of theotheribody member, uid dispensing means on one of the bodies, and valvemeans to control the flow of uid through said-passages.

2. A striping device of the class described comprising a main bodymember having fluid passages therethrough, a second body member alsohaving fluid passages therethrough and mounted on said main body memberfor movement relative thereto, said body members being resilientlymounted one with respect to the other for both vertical and lateralmovement, valve means operable to control the flow of fluid through saidpassages, means operable in response to movement of said second bodymember to actuate said valve means, and fluid dispensing means on one ofsaid body members.

3. A striping device of the class described comprising a main body,member having uid passages therethrough, valve meansoperable to startand stop the tlow of iiuid, a iiuid dispensing means resiliently andpivotally movable for vertical and lateral movement with respect to saidmain body member, and means operable in response to movement of saiddispensing means to actuate said valvev means.

4. A stripingV device of the class described comprising a main bodymember having fluid passages therethrough, valve means in said main bodymember operable to start and stop the How of fluid, a second body memberhaving tiuid passages' therethrough and resiliently and pivotallymounted on said main body member, ilexible connecting means between thepassages of each said body member to provide continuous Huid ilow fromone body member to the other, fluid dispensing means on said second bodymember and movable therewith, and means operable in response to movementof said second body member to actuate said valve means.

5. A striping device of the class described comprising a main bodymember having fluid passages therethrough, valve means in said main bodymember operable to start and stop the ow of fluid, said valve meansincluding a valve stem extending outwardly through said main body memberand beyond one side thereof, said valve stem being slidable to open andclose the valve, uid dispensing means in communication with the passagesin said main body and resiliently movably mounted thereon, and meansconnected with said valve stem and movable with said dispensing means toactuate said valve means upon movement of said dispensing means.

6. A striping device of the class described comprising a main bodymember having fluid passages therethrough, valve means in said main bodymember operable to start and stop the flow of uid, said valve meansincluding a valve stem extending outwardly through said main body memberand beyond one side thereof, said valve stem beingslidable to open andclose the valve, fluid dispensing means movably mounted on said mainbody, an arm resiliently and pivotally mounted on said main body andconnected to said valve stem, whereby movement of said arm will actuatesaid valve, and means at one end of said arm in contact with saiddispensing means to render said arm and dispensing means movabletogether, whereby movement of said dispensing means will move said armand` actuate said valve.

(References on following page) References Cited in the le of this patentUNITED STATES PATENTS Yingling Oct. 3, 1916 Strafus Sept. 11, 1928Christman Sept. 10, 1929 6 Dirkes et a1. Mar. 4, 1930 Fox et al. Ian.26, 1932 Christman Nov. 7, 1933 Albright June 22, 1943

